


物の哀れ (The Fleeting Nature of Life)

by Orlha



Series: Drabbling in Narutoverse [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Angst, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-05
Updated: 2017-06-05
Packaged: 2018-11-09 10:56:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11103108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Orlha/pseuds/Orlha
Summary: Kakashi sees the white crackle of chakra, the sound of the birds filling his ears. He sends more chakra to his feet, begging to be in time. His hand outstretched.He’s late, too late again. Always too late.





	物の哀れ (The Fleeting Nature of Life)

**Author's Note:**

> If the summary and the tags didn't warn you, this is
> 
>  
> 
> **ANGST**

Kakashi sees the white crackle of chakra, the sound of the birds filling his ears. He sends more chakra to his feet, begging to be in time. His hand outstretched.

 _‘Sakura!’_ His mind chokes as he watches in horror. Sasuke’s hand plunges through her chest, driving through the center of her torso. Her mouth opens, blood dribbling down her chin. She slumps forward onto his arm and falls limply to the ground, her eyes half lidded. Kakashi lurches across slamming a chakra coated fist into Sasuke’s face.

He’s late, too late again. Always too late.

“Sakura?” he hunches over her, his hands pressing against the hole, desperately trying to stem the blood. “Come on, honey. Wake up. Please. Heal yourself.”

Her head rolls in his hand, her once bright green eyes are now glazed and glassy.

“Sakura, come on. Don’t do this to me.”

Kakashi could hear Naruto screaming and Sasuke’s eerie laughter, he could feel the weight of the red chakra pressing down on him, but he didn’t care.

“Sakura, _please._ ”

He channels his pathetic knowledge of healing chakra into the wound. But not enough to heal. He knows that but he _has_ to do _something._ Sakura blinks, her hand barely gripping his arm. She gurgles and gasps. Her lips move. Kakashi doesn’t need to hear her voice to know her words, he knows them by heart. He knows them from the loopy grin she gives him when she kisses him goodnight.

“Someone! Please!” He looks up, his eyes searching for help. His mask is soggy now, his sharingan is dully aching but nothing hurts more than the rapidly cooling body in his arms.

“ _Please-_ ” he gasps.

There is nothing left but the destruction that Naruto had wrought and Naruto lying in the middle of it.

 

 

 

The worst part of the Fourth Shinobi War wasn’t fighting the undead enemies that he had difficulty killing previously. The worst part of the Fourth Shinobi War was seeing Sakura among them.

“Sakura-” the words barely escape his lips before Kakashi has to draw a ragged breath. He _can’t_ fight her. “Don’t make me do this!”

“I’m sorry- I can’t stop myself-” Sakura cries out, her hand plunging a chakra enhanced strike into the ground.

All the months spent mourning for her, all the hours spent at the memorial begging for her forgiveness. Maybe this is it. This is where he can finally stop fighting. His hand falls to this side, the kunai dropping to the ground with a dull clang. He’s okay with this. He deserves it. For all the times that he couldn’t be there, all the times that he was late.

For Obito, for Rin, for Sakura.

“Kakashi! You stupid idiot! Fight me!” she screams, her body already in motion, her legs spinning in that trademark move he had taught her. “Stupid, stupid! I won’t forgive you if you give up!”

Her body halts just inches from him, the shadows on the ground growing around her, restraining her. “Thank kami! Shikamaru! Kick some sense into Kakashi! This stupid moron. Stupid, stupid, stupid! Don’t you dare give up without a good fight, Kakashi.”

The sealing team surrounds her, her eyes staring at him with a sad look. “Don’t you dare give up before your time. Because that’s not the man I fell in love with. Promise me.”

“Sa-Sakura…”

“Promise me!”

Kakashi swallows hard, trying to memorise the image of her. Her pink hair, the sound of her voice. He had missed them so much. “I promise,” he says, the words tasting like ash in the mouth. “I- love you,” he says the words he never told her, all too confident that they had all the time in the world.

Her lips twitches into a sad smile. “I know.” Then her body crumpled as her soul leaves its vessel.

 

\---

 

_Pulvis et umbra sumus - We are but dust and shadow_

 


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